Surfer's Brew
by socially.conbaffelated
Summary: Keith has been working at Altean Coffee with his brother Shiro for two years. A new customer starts to visit the shop every morning and orders the same thing every time. Keith gets used to seeing this customer and begins to look forward to his visits...
1. Chapter 1

**This story has also been posted onto ao3.**

* * *

Keith walked back to the counter after having unlocked the front door to Altean Coffee. It was 8 AM and he really wasn't in the mood to work but he didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

"Shiro! We're opening!"

"I'm coming, just a second!" Shiro walked out of the back room with his apron in his left hand.

Keith took the apron without a word and tied it around his older brother's waist. As soon as he was done, there was a jingle from the front door. Keith turned towards the customer and put a plastic smile on his face. "Good morning!

What can I get you today?" he asked.

"Um...can I get a large chocolate frappuccino with extra whipped cream and -" The tall customer stopped talking the second he looked at Keith.

"...And?" Keith prompted.

The customer shook off whatever had come over him and continued, "And some chocolate drizzle please." He smiled as Keith finished punching his order into the register.

"That will be $4.50," he said. Keith waited while the customer tried to dig his wallet out of his backpack. Shouldn't he have known that he would have to pay? The customer finally found his wallet and paid for his drink. "Your drink will be ready in just a moment."

"Aren't you going to ask me my name?" the customer asked with a grin.

Keith gave the customer a long look before he said, "You're the only one here." The grin instantly fell from the customer's face. Keith sighed. "Fine, what's your name?"

The grin returned. "Lance."

* * *

Lance showed up to the coffee shop every morning for the next two weeks. Keith quickly learned that Lance always

ordered the same drink every time. The fourth time Lance showed up, Keith had already made his drink and punched it into the register. All Lance had to do was pay, then he would leave.

Keith had begun to notice that Shiro was starting to look at him weird in the morning. "Why do you keep giving me that look, Shiro?"

"I can't believe you haven't noticed yet."

"Noticed what?"

"You like Lance, don't you Keith?"

Keith felt his face go red. "Shut up."

Shiro ruffled Keith's hair with his left hand before going into the back room to do inventory.

* * *

At the beginning of Lance's third week of coming to the coffee shop, he started having small conversations with Keith. Keith learned that Lance was a student at the University of Hawaii, and that he surfed competitively during the summer.

One day, Lance showed up to the coffee shop in a wetsuit.

"What's that about?" Keith asked.

"Oh, I'm training for an upcoming competition with my buddy Hunk."

"Oh. That's cool."

Lance cleared his throat. "Yeah."

* * *

Lance had been coming into the shop for a whole month now. Since he was training, he hadn't been able to stop and chat as much. Keith had started feeling like something was missing. Shiro was still giving him weird looks.

"Hey boys! How's it going today?" The owner of Altean Coffee had just come in.

"Hey Allura, we've been doing fine," Shiro responded.

"Allura? I've been meaning to ask you something," Keith said.

"Sure, go ahead."

"I've been wondering if we could add something to the menu."


	2. Chapter 2

It's been a few days since Lance has come into the shop. Keith has still been making Lance's usual order every morning. The first couple of times the drink just sat on the counter and grew cold before either Keith or Shiro decided to throw it away. Since then, though, Keith had started drinking it. He didn't quite understand how Lance enjoyed it so much. It was very sweet and Keith hated the taste it left behind in his mouth.

Lance hadn't shown up this morning either. It was nearing the afternoon, so Keith started drinking the coffee intended for Lance while he worked in the back and Shiro managed the register.

* * *

"Hunk, I promise you that this guy's the one," Lance said, while he and his childhood friend walked back to Hunk's van, carrying their surfboards under their arms.

"Lance, buddy, listen. You don't even know the guy's name. You know nothing about him other than he works in that coffee shop. Absolutely nothing! For all you know, he could be straight."

"Trust me, the only thing straight about that boy is his teeth."

"Either way, if you're really that into him, you need to ask him out."

"But what would we do? I've never been on a date with a guy, Hunk!"

"You could bring him to my house and I could cook something for you guys."

Lance groaned loudly. "I don't know, man. I just want him to like me."

"How about you find out what his name is first? _Then_ you can worry about asking him out."

"Fine. I'll go find out right now." Lance leaned his board up against the side of Hunk's van before running off in the direction of the coffee shop.

"Lance! You get your butt back here and help me put the boards up!" When Lance didn't respond to Hunk's demand, Hunk went ahead and started putting their boards away, grumbling to himself the whole time. "Stupid pretty coffee boy with the 'pretty hair' and the 'blue eyes that look like the ocean'..."

Meanwhile, Lance was nearly to the coffee shop, and he still had no idea what he was going to say to the cute coffee shop boy. When he got there, Lance saw that it wasn't him behind the counter, but some other guy. Lance decided to get his coffee anyway and maybe sit and mess around on his phone. _Hunk doesn't need my help_ that _bad._

Lance walked up to the counter staring at the menu. It had been a while since he had ordered for himself and he couldn't remember what it was called. "Can I get a -" Lance stopped himself, staring at the item at the bottom of the specialties menu. It was exactly what Lance always ordered for himself. " _Surfer's Brew?" How long has that been there? Did he actually name a drink after me?_

The man behind the counter chuckled. "I'm assuming you want your usual, Lance?"

"Um, yeah." _How does this guy even now my name? I've never seen him here before._

"Coming right up." Once Lance had received his drink and paid for it, he sat at one of the tables and shoved his headphones in his ears.

* * *

"Keith! It's your turn."

"I'm coming, Shiro. Just a moment." Keith downed the last bit of cold coffee before switching with Shiro.

"Your favorite customer is here, by the way."

 _Lance is here? But he never comes in this late._ Sure enough, when Keith went to go stand behind the register, Lance was sitting at one of the tables, music blaring through his headphones. Keith could hear the Top 40 pop songs, despite his distance from Lance. Keith was more or less fine with it, but after a while, it started to get annoying.

Keith walked over to Lance and waited until he pulled a headphone out of his ear. "Could you please turn your music down? You're bothering the other customers."

Lance looked around the room before turning back to Keith. "But I'm the only one here."

"I don't care. Please turn it down."

Lance grinned. "I'll turn it down if you go on a date with me."


	3. Chapter 3

_Shit shit shit did he just ask me out_. Keith could feel his cheeks turning pink.

 _Fuck, Lance. Idioto! You don't even know his name!_ While Lance was mentally beating himself, he kept his face composed. He started writing on a napkin. "Are you free on Friday? Come to this address at 7. We're going to have dinner," Lance said. He was handling this fairly well, considering he hadn't meant to go this far quite yet.

"Um. I don't know if I can. I think Shiro and I have some plans," Keith mumbled, trying to hide his face.

Neither of them noticed Shiro approaching until he put his left hand on Keith's shoulder, making them both jump. "Keith would love that! I'll make sure that he's free."

Lance felt his eyes widen when he realized that Shiro - he guessed that that was his name, since Keith had just mentioned him - only had one arm. "Well, I'll see you then, pretty boy." Lance got up from the table and left with his coffee to go find Hunk.

The second the door shut behind Lance, Keith turned on Shiro. "Don't just answer for me like that! I can't just go to some random guy's house on a Friday night! I have to help you close the shop and what if he wants _something_ to happen I can't do that Shiro why would you -"

Shiro cut him off. "Keith, calm down. Everything is going to be fine. I can tell Allura that you can't close on Friday. She'll be more than happy to fill in. And nothing's going to happen unless you want it to. If he tries anything you don't want him to, then you can just leave. I know how much you like him, Keith. You'll be fine."

Keith took a shaky breath and nodded before the two of them got back to work.

* * *

"Hunk! You will not believe what just happened!"

"You mean how you left me to put up your surfboard while you went to go play Romeo? Because I can believe it."

"Sorry, dude. Anyway, that's not it. I asked the cute coffee shop boy out and he said yes! We're having dinner at your house on Friday at 7."

"Wait, I did not give you permission to invite some random guy over to my house! Did you even get his name?"

"Yes, actually. His name is Keith. And you gave me roundabout permission to bring him to our house! You just didn't say when. But you already told me that I could bring him to your house and you would cook us dinner so it's already decided."

"Well, I can't do it on Friday. My parents are in town that weekend and we were supposed to spend it together without anything interfering. Text Keith right now and tell him that you have to change it to next Friday."

"I didn't get his number," Lance mumbled.

"You what!"

* * *

"Pidge! Keith is here for his bike!"

"Okay! Send him in, Matt!"

Keith walked into the shop and examined his bike. "Is it all ready to go?"

"Almost. It will be done by Saturday."

"But I need it by Friday!"

"Why? Do you have a hot date or something?" Pidge asked, wiping grease off of their hands with a rag.

"Actually, I do."

"Really? Since when did you go on dates?"

"Since yesterday."

"Sorry, mullet man, but you won't be able to show up to your hot date with your hot bike. You're going to have to find some other way to get there."

"I have no other way to get there! Can't you just work on it a little bit more?"

"Okay, first: No, I cannot work on your bike more than I already am. I've been working on it as much as possible between going to school and doing my homework. AP high school classes aren't exactly a picnic, not that you would know. If you let someone else work on your precious bike, then it would be done in two days. Second: Just ask your new boy toy to pick you up."

"I can't ask him. I don't have his phone number. Wait, how did you know he was a boy?"

"I've known you were gay since day one, pal. Also, Shiro told Matt and Matt told me. How the hell are you going on a date with a guy without even having his phone number?"

"Well, he didn't give it to me and I didn't think about it until after he had left."

"Wow. Shiro's right. You two are perfect for each other."

* * *

"Okay. I smoothed it over with my parents and they agreed that it would be fine, so long as I make dinner for the three of us as well and you sit separately from us and don't be rude or disruptive."

"Thanks, Hunk. You're a great friend."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm the best. What do you guys want to eat?"

"I'm honestly fine with whatever. You can do whatever you want."

"Okay. I'll do something kind of simple. Don't want to get too flashy on your first date."

"Hunk, if Keith and I had a ship name, what do you think it would be?"

"A ship name?"

"Yeah. Like, if we were famous or whatever and people stuck our names together to refer to the two of us together and our relationship? I was thinking Leith would be pretty good."

"What the -? Lance, that sounds awful. It would be Klance, it sounds so much better."

"I strongly disagree."

* * *

Keith and Shiro were having dinner with the Holts tonight.

"So, Keith. You should tell us about this guy you're going on a date with tomorrow," Matt said.

"His name is Lance and he's a competitive surfer," Shiro said. Keith had just stuffed some food in his mouth. "He's a year older than Keith and he goes to the University of Hawaii."

"Shiro, how do you know so much about him? Does Keith talk about him a lot?" Matt teased.

"I listen. How else am I supposed to know what's going on with him?"

"If you just asked I would talk to you," Keith said.

"Do you like this boy, Keith? I don't remember you ever having a crush on anyone," Mrs. Holt said.

Keith could feel his cheeks turning red. "Yeah, I do."

"Seems like Sir Lancelot is your knight in shining armor," Pidge said, stifling a chuckle.

"I'm going to let that slide only because you managed to get my bike done in time for me to take to Lance's house."

"You're lucky I didn't have a ton of homework to do, lover boy," Pidge smirked.

Keith rolled his eyes, taking a bite of his salad. He was only going on a date, nothing more.

Pidge put their fork up to their mouth and mumbled, "Keith and Lance sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-"

"Stop!" Keith shouted, dropping his fork on his plate.

"If I had known your face could be the same color as your bike I would've teased you a lot more up until now."

Keith slumped in his chair, hiding his face with his hair as he continued to eat his salad. He couldn't wait to get this date over with.


End file.
